Stalk shredder and disintegrator



Dec. 16, 1952 D. w. ROSENBERG 2,621,457

STALK SHREDDER AND DISINTEGRA'IZOR Filed April 1, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 124 roi u 2o 1 INVENTOR DEWEY W ROSENBERG Arrow/5 Dec. 16, 1952 D. w.ROSENBERG STALK SHREDDER AND DISINTEGRA'I'OR 2. SHEETS-SHEET 2 FiledApril 1, 1948 G mmwm T m 1% m Wm Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Dewey W. Rosenberg, Welcome, Minm, assignor of one-thirdto Edwin H. Meyer, Fairmount,

Minn.

Application April 1., 1948, Serial. N 0. 18,453

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a machine for pulverizing stalks and cropresidue remaining in the field after a harvest.

When crops such as corn and the like have been harvested fibrous stalksand residue are left in the field.

This material attracts weevils and other insects which infest the stalksand breed therein causing considerable damage to the subsequent yearscrop. This has been a serious problem with farmers who grow corn andother crops which have fibrous stalks and residue attractive to theseinsects.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel and improvedextremely simple stalk pulverizer and shredder which is adapted toefiiciently and completely pulverize the stalks and other residue leftin the fields after a crop has been harvested. It is another object toprovide a machine having at least one rotary cutter adapted to be drivenat a high speed to shred and pulverize the stalks in the field after theharvest of a crop.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a, stalkpulverizer and shredder horizontally mounted on a vertical rotary axisto initially shred the stalks longitudinally and thereafter pulverizethe same to prevent any large fibrous units required by weevils andother insects from remaining on the field.

It is still a further object to provide a novel and improved cuttershredder mechanism mounted for rotary operation under a confining shieldand adapted to draw the stalks and other fibrous residue thereunder tobe pulverized within the disintegrating chamber formed thereby anddischarged after complete shredding comm-inution.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of my stalk pulverizer and shreddershowing one form thereof and having a portion of the rear of the covershield cut away;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1; r

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the machine shown in Figures 1 and 2with a portion of the top of the cover shield cut away; and

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of an alternative form of my inventionwith the rear of the cover shield cut away.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 through 3, I 'provid one form of my inventiondesignated by the letter A having a supporting structure with the maintransverse truss frame [0 which has a bottom transverse cross memberIlla and diagonal members Ifib fixed to said cross member Illa andconverging angularly upwardly therefrom. An upper cross member 10cextends between the upper extremities of said diagonal members lflb andis fixed thereto to form a rigid truss with main cross member Mia. andthe two diagonals lilb. A pair of uprights H are connected at the endextremities of said main cross member Illa and are adjustably attachedto bracket members 12 for vertical adjustment thereon. The bracketmembers l2 are fixed as by welding to the ends of cross member lila. Theuprights H have a plurality of vertically spaced apertures therethroughadapted to selectively receive the attachment bolts it, which extendthrough suitable apertures in the brackets l2 to rigidly attach saiduprights H to said brackets l2 while at the same time permittingvertical adjustment of said uprights. A pair of horizontal skids orrunners I4 are fixed at the bottom of said uprights and are disposedlongitudinally in spaced parallel relation to carry the machine as ittravels over the ground surface. A pair of diagonal braces I5, bestshown in Fig. 2, interconnect the respective forward and rear ends ofsaid runners M with the upper portions of the respective uprights I I.

A center longitudinally disposed channel member 15 extends forwardlyfrom the center of upper truss member We and a pair of diagonal strutsl! rigidly support the forward portion. thereof. Suitable means forattaching the longitudinal channel It to a tractor are provided such asthe pair of attachment bars l8 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The cover shield designated as an entirety by the numeral ill having asubstantially rectangular horizontal top panel Il a is rigidly fixed tosaid cross member Illa as best shown inFigs. 1 and 2, and extendsforwardly and rearwardly thereof and traverses the width of the machine.The forward marginal edge l9d of said cover shield H) has, in the formshown, a pair of upwardly and outwardly flared scoops or chutes 20having rearwardly converging sides 20a and an inclined top panel. 23bwhich are adapted to initially receive and guide the stalks down undersaid shield top panel l9a. The two outwardly diverging scoops or chutes28 are transversely spaced to permit their alignment with a pair ofadjacent crop rows so as to successively receive the respective stalksin the rows as the machine is moved across the field longitudinally ofsaid stalk rows. A central guiding plate 2i traverses the space betweenthe two chutes and extends angularly upwardly to guide any intermediatestalks or other material downwardly under the cover plate of shield l9.The shield 49 has side aprons 19b and a rear apron lQc which terminateat their bottoms slightly above the surface of the ground, the rearapron 190 being disposed at an obtus angle relative to plate 19a. Theclearance between the ground and these apron 19b and 130 is adjustableby varying the position of uprights H on brackets 12. The upwardlyflared forward guiding portions and 21 are securely braced by beingfixed to the diagonals H, as best shown in Fig. 2.

A pair of vertically disposed rotary shafts 22 best shown in Fig. 1 arerespectively mounted for rotation in bearings 23 and 24. It will b seenthat each shaft 22 has a pair of suitable bearings 23 and 24 fixedrespectively to vertically spaced cross members Ida and 00. The bearings23 and 25 are designed to prevent vertical shifting of the shafts 22 topermit the elevation of the lower extremities thereof to be variedrelative to the ground surface. A pair of cutters 25 are repectivelyfixed in horizontally disposed position onto the lower extremities ofsaid shafts 22 for rotation therewith. Each of the cutters in the formshown has four cutter blades 25a but the number of blades is in no wayessential to the operation of my machine. The direction of rotation ofthe cutters 25 is indicated by arrows in Fig. 3 and the blades 25a arecurved forwardly at the outer portions thereof so that said outerportions are respectively disposed ahead of the inner portions duringtheir rotation. Also the blades 25a are pitched so that the trailingedges thereof are respectively vertically displaced and the surfaces ofthe blades slope upwardly from the leading edges thereof tothe trailingedges. The pitch of the blades aids in producing a suction which drawsstalks and other material up into contact with the blades and retainsthe shredded stalks under the shield I3 to permit the same to becompletely pulverized. Flat blades without any pitch would produce asubstantial vacuum under the shield 19 but having the pitched bladessubstantially increases this vacuum.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 through 3 a central vertically disposedrotary drive shaft 26 is journaled in suitable bearings 2! and 28respectively mounted on the cross bars we and lfic midway between saidshafts 22, said central drive shaft 23 being parallel with shafts 22.The bearings 27 and 28 are designed to prevent vertical displacement ofshaft 26. Such shaft extends upwardly a slight distance above the upperbearing 28 and has a bevel gear 23 fixed to the upwardly extendedportion, as best shown in Fig. 2. A horizontally disposed rotaryconnection shaft 36 is journaled in a pair of suitable bearings 3| whichare mounted on horizontal channel It. Th connection shaft 38 has a bevelgear fixed to th rear extremity thereof and is adapted to intermesh withbevel gear 29 for driving the same. The horizontal shaft 38 extendsforwardly along the channel i6 and has a universal joint 33 fixed at theforward end thereof. The said shaft is adapted to be connected with asource of rotary power such as the power take-01f of a tractor (notshown), said power being transmitted through said universal joint 33. Asbest shown in Fig. 1, the vertical, driven shafts 22 are rotated bysuitable chain and sprocket driving connections 34 and have theresilient chain tightener rollers 35 engaged therewith. It will be seenthat the two shafts 22 are both rotated in the same direction by thechain drive mechanisms 34.

The following is a description of theoperation of form A of myinvention. The draw-bar attachments 18 are connected with a tractor (notshown) and the power take-off connection through universal joint 33 tohorizontal drive shaft 33 is made with the power take-off of thetract-or (not shown) and the mechanism is drawn out into a field such asa corn field from which the corn has been harvested, leaving the stalksin the field some standing and some bent over and lying flat on theground. The height of the cutters 25 and the cover shield I9 isinitially adjusted to the optimum clearance above the ground surface andthereafter the machine is moved across the field preferably inlongitudinal alignment with the rows of stalks. The cutters 25 aredriven at relatively high speeds ranging from 1009 to 2000 R. P. M. Inform A of the invention the blades 25a of both the cutters 25 arerotated in substantially th sam horizontal plane and the ends of theblades of one cutter are slightly spaced from the ends of the blades ofthe other cutter at their closest position during their rotation. As thedevice moves along the rows, the standing stalks are bent forwardly bythe flared chutes 23 and guide 25 and thus guided rearwardly under thehorizontal top cover l9a of shield l9. With the blades travelling atsuch high speeds the stalks confined under the cover shield areimmediately shredded upon contact with the outer portions of saidblades. These shredded fragments may still be relatively large and if soare carried over to the other cutter and further pulverized by impactwith the cutter blades and by being thrown against the aprons of theshield 43. The curved leading edges of the blades aid in slicing thefragments to shred the same. The action of the cutters travelling athigh speed is to produce a vacuum within the shield l9 which tends tohold the particles under the shield until they are finely pulverized.The horizontal paths of the cutters 25 initially shred the stalkslongitudinally and thereafter slice them transversely as well aslongitudinally during the period when the fragment are retained underthe shield 19. The vacuum produced by the rotation of the cutters 25also lifts any stalks which have been flattened against the ground andwill pulverize substantially all of these stalks as well as the standingstalks which have been bent down by the guides at the front of thecover. By horizontally rotating the cutter 25 it makes very littledifference at what point th stalks enter under the shield 19 becausesubstantially the entire area under the shield is covered by therotation of the blades 25a and thus all of the stalks included betweenthe runners M are disintegrated.

Form B of my invention is illustrated in Fig. 4 and is essentially thesame as form A. The adjustable runners, frame members, bearings andpower take-off connection all being identically similar with form A. Thedrive shaft 3!? drives a central vertical shaft 36 mounted in bearings27 and 28 and drives rotary shafts 22 through chain and sprocket drivingconnections 34 with tighteners 35. The shaft 36 extends downwardly belowthe lower bearing 27 and has a third cutter 38 fixed at the lowerextremity thereof. The

5 cutters fixed to shaft 22 are of slightly smaller diameter than thecutters 25 and are designated by the numeral 31. The central cutter 38in th form shown in Fig. 4 is disposed slightly above the cutters 31 andis disposed centrally therebetween, the blades thereof overlapping theblade of cutters 31. This cutter 38 could be disposed below the cutters31 as well as above them. It will be seen that all three cutters 31 and38 ar rotated in the same direction and by providing a third cuttergreater cutting efliciency and shearing action on the stalks isobtained, as the machine is progressively moved across a field. In formA of the invention illustrated the axes of rotation of the cutters 25are transversely spaced apart the distance between the rows of thestalks being disintegrated and said axes of rotation are aligned withthe horizontal center lines of chutes 20. In form B of my invention therotary cutter 38 may be aligned with one row and the cutters 31 alignedwith the respective row on either side of said first mentioned row andadjacent thereto, thereby distintegrating the stalks in three rowssimultaneously.

It will be seen that I have provided a highly efficient mechanism forshredding and disintegrating fibrous stalk such as corn stalks left inthe field after the crop ha been harvested. There are several distinctadvantages of my machine in that it tends to draw the stalks lyinghorizontally in the field upwardly into the cutter blades and that ithas an extremely wide effective path as it progresses across a field.The blades of the cutters in either the two cutter or the three cutterform of the invention traverse substantially the entire Width of thecover to provide for all the stalks passed over by the mechanism to beshredded and pulverized. The

- extreme strength and simplicity of my improved mechanism are alsodistinct advantages in the production of the machine.

Number It will, of course, be understood that various changes may bemade in the form, arrangement and proportion of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

A stalk shredder and disintegrator for row crops comprising a supportingstructure, ground engaging elements mounted thereunder to permit saidstructure to be moved over the ground, a cutter enclosing shield mountedon said structure and including a horizontally disposed plate spacedabove the ground surface and an enclosing apron extending downwardly atthe sides and rear edge portions of said plate, th rear downwardlyextending portion of said apron being disposed at an obtuse anglerelative to said plate, a rotary cutter mounted on said structure forrotation on a substantially vertically disposed axis, and including aplurality of horizontally disposed blades positioned under said shield,the entire forward marginal edge portion of said .shield being flaredupwardly and having a stalk bending and guiding scoop with rearwardlyconverging sides and an inclined top panel disposed in an obtuse angularrelation to said upwardly flared portion disposed at a lesser anglerelative to the top plate of said shield than the upwardly flaredforward portion thereof to gather and bend the stalks disposed in rowand deliver the same to the rotary cutter blades.

DEWEY W. ROSENBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 2,114,096 Noel Apr. 12, 1938 2,243,133Steiner et a1 May 27, 1941 2,308,076 Hainke Jan. 12, 1943 2,491,544Arkenberg Dec. 20, 1949

